Doll
c. 1940
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paper
Dimensions
overall: 39.7 x 30.6 cm (15 5/8 x 12 1/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 12 1/2" high; 3" wide
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.16661
Art Historical Context
In the late 1930s, as of the Federal Art under the Works Progress Administration (PA), artist John Hall to the *Index of American Design* (IAD), a monumental effort to document the nation's folk art and decorative traditions. Created around 1940, his rendering *Doll* captures a example of early American craftsmanship—a diminutive folk doll standing just 12½ inches high and 3 inches wide. watercolor, graphite, pen, and ink on paper (39.7 x 30.6 cm), Hall's meticulous technique blends soft color washes with precise line work, faithfully reproducing the doll's textures, patterns, and whimsical de...